Scandal time
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Hakim Ali Zardari, has confirmed what the general public has suspected for some time, widespread nepotism and corruption has been endemic in Government. He has unleashed a barrage of well documented accusations pertaining to misdemeanour, essentially over the past two decades. Mr. Zardari has taken on the mantle of the public’s avenging angel, given that accountability is the dream of the masses he is on the right track. James Reston has said that “Government is the only vessel that leaks at the top”. Any time that malfeasance is disclosed at the highest quarter, albeit the requirement is that it should be done in a non-partisan manner, it is to be commended, repeatedly and without inhibition. The high-minded ideals of his office places a responsibility on Mr. Zardari however, precluding retaliation by using the trappings of his present status and position to answer personal attacks. Mr. Zardari must not be seen to be provoked in getting his own back.
The fact that Hakim Ali Zardari has been a moneyed man all his life protects him to an extent from counter allegations. To deny him and his son, the PM’s husband, their individual status as wealthy businessmen would be a travesty of fact, they do not cease to be citizens with fundamental rights just because Asif Zardari is married to Ms Benazir. As legitimate businessmen with intelligent investments, ownership of prime real estate and developments thereof well-documented, it is to be believed that their wealth expansion has been legitimate uptil now. Their effort over the years to increase their wealth falls well within the purview of entrepreneurship, they could have well lost all of it also. Given the teachings of our religion encouraging free enterprise, one cannot also negate the essence of the very democracy that we are busy espousing, the right to earn money through one’s own efforts. True, being the PM’s husband, Asif Zardari will be subject to public cynosure extraordinary and it is within the scheme of things that his present and future dealings will be examined minutely to ensure that they remain fair and above reproof, it can be singularly frustrating but those are the sacrifices one has to endure due to a high public profile. In more ways than one he has to come out squeaky clean, he owes this not only to his present status but also to the supreme national interest in seeing that his wife, the PM, succeeds in the extraordinary mission entrusted to her by the nation, this nation cannot afford that her image is tarnished in any manner.
What holds true for the Zardaris also holds true for Nawaz Sharif, Choudhrys Shujaat Hussain, Pervez Elahi, etc. As businessmen their rights do not cease just by being in the opposition. Each belongs to a wealthy family, those who rose from humble origins have to be really eulogised, it is representative of the great American Dream, even President George Bush, born in clover, went to Texas to make his own fortune, the rewards being that much sweeter because of the struggle. All public figures are also subject to cynosure by a discerning public. One is constrained to agree with Mr. Tariq Sayeed, President FPCCI, when he reacted to the allegations against the sales of Intercontinental Hotels to Sadruddin Hashwani. By all accounts this was a legitimate business deal and the Wafaqi Mohtasib had confirmed it. Unless there is irrefutable evidence to the contrary, businessmen should not be subjected to public scrutiny in this manner, it will make genuine investment shy away.
Legitimate loans for commercial or industrial purposes are a part and parcel of normal business transactions and if the same criteria and standards are followed for all on fair basis, it must not become the subject of contention. It is to be seen, however, whether because of political clout the known process was circumvented. It is indeed galling for the ordinary citizen and frustrating to see public figures get their loans sanctioned at the speed of light while the common citizens are led up the garden path for many months before being shown the door. A litmus test must be created to judge the way of each and every loan over Rs.5 million was made, what to talk about those over 10 or 100 or even 1000 times that amount. If advances do not pass a standard criteria, malfeasance must not go unpunished whatsoever the person’s political position. Examples must be made of those in the banking circles who sanctioned the loans also. They are responsible to the masses as guardians of the public money and they cannot just give it away.
Those in public life have an extraordinary responsibility to the masses that they represent, they cannot be seen to be acquiring wealth not synonymous with a relative pro-rata scale of increase in the life-style of the masses, those are the checks that public life imposes on the normal unfettered capacity of the individual to earn money. Any hint of using the privileges of public office to further a transaction will be seen as malfeasance. The ethics of Government make the process of earning money as individuals ride on a fine line between legality and otherwise, this line is invariably breached in contrast to the high moral standards envisaged or spoken about. That in essence is the bane of accountability, the helplessness of the masses at the sight of highway robbery in broad daylight in a full public view.
The fact remains that the public till has been systematically looted, not only over the past decade but indeed over the past four decades. The Chairman of the PAC has an onerous and fulfilling task, he must impartially go into various case histories without fear or favour. He has a tremendous responsibility to the masses, fed up with the all pervasive nepotism and corruption manifest with every administration upto date. Each episode must be examined objectively, without objectivity and the lack of political bias the purpose of the exercise will become political witch-hunting, even losing the credibility of true facts. The guilty may even go un-punished as errant-politicians and bureaucrats take cover under this ruse.
Corruption does not start at the bottom, it starts at the top, or at least near it. The time honoured method is to gather money ostensibly for party funds. The PAC Chairman must also know that vested interest has a unique ability to turn around an investigation on its head by shuffling papers and figures to suit their own interest. The PAC Chairman has talked about the public sector corporations, he must not jump to any conclusions by listening to the bureaucrat’s rendering of an objective analysis, fairplay demands that in each case he must also make sure the businessman concerned (or the politician or the bureaucrat, whosoever) has an opportunity to be heard verbally and in writing. The American way of conducting public hearings through Congressional Committees is an excellent idea and it works. The person whose testimony is to be taken has full liberty to engage counsel and not answer any question that might incriminate him, the silence being either taken as contempt of proceedings or more so as an admission of guilt. The many bipartisan Committees that Mr. Zardari is forming must remain the sole privilege of the elected. Keeping the ideals of honesty and integrity paramount, parliamentarians of known calibre and dedication must become part of this process. No one should be above the law whatsoever his station in life. The acquisition of illegal wealth needs to be well tabulated and given honest inquisitors it is not very difficult to trace out malfeasance, the amount that inquiry teams bring back into the government coffers will more than justify their expense, the inquisitors will also be gainfully employed.
The PAC Chairman must send all cases where there is suspicion of malintention on the part of the bureaucrats in making an accusation to a special tribunal, false accusations must be liable for equivalent punishment that was contrived for the “accused” in a false case. In the public sector corporations, the files are quite detailed (and invariably cooked) and the presentation made to the PAC Chairman is always in the form of a motivated summary. An accusation made is like a pointed “smoking gun”, depending upon the correctness of the accusation, at the accused or at the accusers.
Some of the cases are of political back slapping, cannot be divorced from a political system. Documentation shows, however, that in the cases of allotment of residential plots by Mr. Jatoi, etc there could indeed have been misdemeanour. Each and every allegation must be examined thoroughly, Mr. Jatoi has openly accepted punishment if any allegations are proven, the same standards must then be set for every other politician, bureaucrat, etc belonging to any ilk. The charge against Lt. Gen (Retd) Saeed Qadir is more specific, he is alleged to have pocketed the proceeds of sales of government lands and then availed of the interest. The Gen Saeed Qadir one knows would not have been that stupid whatever the extenuating circumstances, being a well-organised and methodical person, well clued up in his years as Quarter Master General (QMG) and Chairman NLC. Frankly one cannot see him make such a mistake and there must be some reasonable explanation, but howsoever much one’s personal feelings on the issue may be, the law must take its course, Cuba has just sentenced one of their outstanding war heroes, Lt. Gen Ochoa, for drug smuggling. In reverse, false accusation must invite the same punishment.
The edifying sight of political mud-slinging is not very conducive for political maturity but the masses of Pakistan are the real winners. For the first time they are becoming privy to the blatant misuse of public office for personal purposes and if one goes by the saying that where there is smoke there is fire, some good will come out of this muck-raking. The figures stated are mind-boggling and if proven, separate greed from the ideals and rhetoric of high public office. It is under the cloak of silence that accountability loses its direction. In any case, in opening up the can of worms to be viewed by the people of Pakistan, we may deter (to some extent) malfeasance in the future.
For us in Pakistan, it is a time for soul searching about the state of affairs over the past decades, where (and to whom) does one turn to for justice? Without casting any aspersions on our judicial system, one cannot see them breaking their backs to upset the system to separate the fact of corruption from fiction. Unless the judiciary and the executive are completely separate, the law-makers will always prevail in imposing their brand of law, the corrupt shall always be able to get away with murder. As we have seen in Pakistan, when criminals function in the name of justice, justice becomes a crime!
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